Govt ignored defence procurement procedure in Rafale deal, says Chidambaram

Chidambaram alleges the Cabinet Committee on Security was not taken into confidence by the government before signing the deal.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram.

Alleging that several procedures relating to defence procurement were isolated by the NDA government in the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, former Union Minister P. Chidambaram said the matter is of “great suspicion”.

Speaking to journalists here, he questioned the Centre’s refusal to disclose the price of the jets and the three-fold increase in their price during the NDA government compared to the UPA government.

“All of this taken together leads to great suspicion. Why the government is so secretive about price?” he said.

He also sought a “detailed enquiry” on the matter.

Mr. Chidambaram alleged that not only was the defence procurement procedure “completely bypassed” by the Centre, but the deal was also not placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security for the approval.

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“The price negotiation committee was never called to meet for this. The Cabinet Committee on Security, which has to approve any defence purchase of this size [was also not kept in the loop],” he said. He further alleged that the Union Ministers of Finance, Defence and External Affairs were not aware of the contract when it was announced on April 10, 2015.

Mr. Chidambaram sought to know why the Centre is refusing to reveal the price of the 36 aircraft, when the annual report of Dassault Aviation has revealed that the price was €7.5 billion (₹60,145 crore).

“Can someone please explain why the prices have gone up three times,” said Mr. Chidambaram.

He also asked why, unlike the agreement signed by the UPA to purchase the aircraft, the contract by the UPA did not have any provision of technology transfer to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by Dassault Aviation.

“What happened to transfer of technology? India, HAL and our aviation industry would have gained if the Dassault’s technology was transferred to India,” he said. He also questioned why Dassault was granted freedom by the NDA government to choose its own “offset partner”.

“Dassault chose a private company as the offset partner. So HAL was completely kept out of the offset obligation,” he said.